We have had a transponder, used to pay tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike and other MA toll roads, for nearly 10 years. Over time the region in which the transponder can be used has grown and now covers most of the northeast. We can now automatically pay tolls when driving the Yaris anywhere between Massachusetts and Florida. We used it this summer in NH and ME, too.
But we could never legally use it for the truck. The tolls everywhere are different for a Yaris and a GMC diesel dually – dramatically different in some cases, as we discovered this summer in Maine. We drove the truck over a 12-mile segment of the Maine Turnpike and paid $7.50 rather than the $3.00 auto rate. I thought this was outrageous – paying 2.5 times as much just because the truck has 2 extra tires.
But there is a convenience factor, for sure. And for that reason I decided to get a transponder for the truck. Obtaining the device was a breeze, handled by the friendly staff at the E-ZPass office. And I learned something that makes the outrageous tolls somewhat less outrageous: the toll is the same when the truck is towing the 5th wheel. That rule applies anywhere in MA, NH and ME, so I could have hauled the rig up the same 12-mile segment in Maine for the same $7.50 toll.
However, that does not apply outside of MA, NH and ME. We are about to embark on a journey that will take us west, potentially along tollroads in NY, OH, IN and IL. I don’t know what the tolls will be there. I am hoping that those states still have cash lanes. If they don’t then I am going to find out the hard way – by getting a bill in the mail – how expensive those states are.